TIIOUT FISHING. 173 



short by means of fly-hooks, that play round the other, 

 on a separate branch of line; so that I have often killed 

 three or four brace of trout, without the minnow being 

 in the least injured, or even touched by the fish. To 

 describe the tackle properly r , without giving a plate of 

 it, would be difficult, if not impossible. After all, how- 

 ever, knowing how to bait the hook is the chief art ; 

 and even after being shown, requires practice on the 

 part of the fisherman who adopts it. Supposing, how- 

 ever, that some angler might have confidence enough in 

 what I have said to get a set of this tackle from Che- 

 valier, I will endeavour (having now a minnow in my 

 hand) to direct him as to baiting it. After choosing a 

 white-bellied minnow, of rather small she, and harden- 

 ing it in bran for an hour or two, first draw back the 

 plummet, and put the large hook into the minnow's 

 mouth, and out through the right gill, taking care not 

 to tear the mouth or any part of the bait : then draw 

 the line three or four inches to you, so as to be able to 

 get the hook back again into its mouth. Then take 

 the minnow between the finger and thumb in the left 

 hand, and the large hook in the right hand, and run the 

 hook all down its back, close to the bone, to the very 

 end of the fish, and let it come out about the centre 

 of the tail Jin. Then with your right hand pull the 

 minnow out as straight as it will lie, and press it into 

 natural form with the finger and thumb. Afterwards 

 nip o^the upper half of the tail Jin, in order to prevent 

 a counteraction to the spinning of the minnow. 



Having done this, draw down your plummet again, 

 and see that your branch-line falls smoothly by the side 

 of your bait-line ; and if not, rub it with Indian rubber 

 till it does. Your hook is then ready for action, and 



